Improvement in areech-loadin



UNITED .STATES PATENT JAMEs EowNEss, o E rEINcE 'E'DwAED IsLAND, A'ssIGNoE Tof HIMsELE AND WILLIAM Ross, oE E osroN,MAssAcaUsErTs-, AssIeNons-rol-'SAID 4"IiI/IPROVEMEN- 1'1N engyEoH-LOAD-I-Ne-FIRE-ARMS.- l i Sp'eceation forming part of Letters Patent No. 43,733, dated August 2, 1864.

o all whom it may concern,.-`

Be it lknown that I, JAMES BowNEss, of Prince Edward Island, of the Kingdom of Great Britain, but at present residing at Boston, in the county of Suffolk and State of Mas- 'sachusetts,have invented an Improved Breechi Loading Gun or Fire-Arm; and I do hereby declare the same to be fully described in the -foll-owingjspecification and represented in the accompanying drawings, of which;

Figure l denotes a top view, Fig. 2 a side elevation, and Fig. 3 la longitudinal section,of it. Fig'. 4 is a transverse section taken through the barrel and bayonet.

My invention, either in part or in Whole, is applicabletoor'dnance as well as to fire-arms. In the drawings, A denotes the stock, B the 'rotary breech, and C the barrel, of my im proved firearm. The said rotary\breech is supported by two journals or trunnions, x which extend from -it in opposite directions at or near its middle, and enter the stock A-orthose parts a a'thereof between which the breech is placed.. This breechis a block of metal bored out, as seen at b, (for the reception of a charge or load,) is closed at itsl rear end', and has an annular and tapering tenen, c, at its front end. barrel enters the rear end of its bore or 'arecess properly formed there, and so as to make a close fit or joint therewith. The barrel is to be so tted to the stock as to be capable of being moved a short distance longitudinally therein, it being pressed forward by pressure againsta thumb piece or projection, d, extending. from its side, and provided with a spring, e, for pressing thebarrel backward.' Aspringlatch, f, fastened to the side of the stock,latches on the thumb-piece, and when in engagement therewith operates to prevent the barrel from` being moved forward or out of connection with :the rotarybreech. Aspring-naming,arranged within the stock and underneath the barrel, so as to project beyond its rear` end, as shown inFg. 3, serves to hold the barrel forward or out of connection with the rotary breech. A

person, by pressing the thumb of his'left hand at one and the same time both downward on the spring-latch f -and forward against the pro- This tenon on recession of the breech into aconvenient situation for receivl ing a cartridge, which, onbeing forced down into the said bore, will encounter a small sharp projection or knife, h, which is arranged ine?. the said bore and just in advance of the vent or touch-hole t' thereof. The object of this knife is to cut open the cartridge, so as to enablel the flame of the priming,which may rush into or through the vent, to lgain access to the powder of the cartridge.

The percussion-nipple of the breech is shown at k, alock for discharging a cap when. on such nipple not being represented, as it may bc apl plied to the stock as it is in most kinds of guns. On depressing the rotary breech to a horizontal positionv after havingbeen loaded, such breechblock `will be forced against the rear part of the. retaining-catch g, and will press the said catch laway from the barrel, andso asto allow the spring c to press the barrel back- Ward up intocon nection with the rotary breech, where it will be held iirmly by the spring- `latch f, and particularly during a discharge of the load of the piece. Along the underside of the barrel, and in front of the stock, there is atongue, Z, which projects from the barrel, and is provided with two recesses, m n. This tongue enters a corresponding groove, o, made in a bayonet, D, which is concave on its upper The E said bayonet has claspsp pito extend from it surface, so as t0 fit against the barrel.

transversely over and about the barrel, and so as not onlyto connect the bayonet to the bar,

rel, but permit the former to be slid forward 'and backward relatively to the latter. Tho

bayonet is also provided with a spring-catch,

q, (see Fig. 2, and also Fig. 5, whichis a hori- "zontal section of the bayonet and the catch q,) which,` by taking into the rear recess, n, will operate to` prevent the bayonet from being,

moved forward -on the barrel. The springl- 2 cacca the barrel not only enables the former' to be made very strong, lbut prevents it from turnbarrel or being detached from the barrel by a sword-blow.

I do not claim a gun as made with a rotary breech separatefrom the barrel andcontaining a charge-chamber, soarran'ged and applied as to be capable with the breech of beingturned out of line with the-barrel in order to receive a load, such being the principle of construe tion of the Hall Carbine7` and others long known and used nor do Ixclairn the application 4of a bayonet to such a gun in such Inan- 'nei-.that it shall be capable of being slid or In'o've'd longitudinally under the barrel of the gun, in order that it may be projected beyond the barrel or drawn 'back entirely underneath it, such having been the inode of applying a bayonet in 'the said 'Hall Carbine; nor do I claim atlti'ng breech providedwith a tenonto enter the rear end of vthe barrel when stationary, the said tilting breech being furnished with means by which it may be moved, so as to cause its tenen to enter or vdepart from its recess of the barrel, as circumstances may require.

WV hat I claim as my invent-ion is l. The improved gun as constructed with/the sliding barrel C and the tilting breech I3, and

as having the recession-sp rin g @,coinbi-ned with the'locking spring-catch f and the thumb piece or projection d, as arranged together and applied to the stock and barrel', substantially as specified.

2. The improved gun as constructed with' the sliding barrel C, the tilting breech B, the recession -spring e, the lockingcatch f, the thu1nb-.projectiond, and the retaining-catch g.

3. The arrangement of the cartridge-cutter h Within therotary or tilting breech B, as described-viz., so that the cartridge, while be- Iing forced into the said breech B. shall be cut or turn longitudinally such cutter. I

' JAMES Bowness.

Witnesses:

R. H.' EDDY,l F. I. HALE, .I1-. 

